A Bonding Experience
by ChronicallyinFlaming
Summary: Written for dragonkink meme. To get out of failing a test, Goten comes out of the closet. Chi-Chi turns out not to be a raging, crazy homophobe, but just plain raging and crazy with her supportiveness.  Mild Goten/F. Trunks


The Prompt: **Okay, so I know a lot of fic has Chi Chi as a raging homophobe, but I've always believed her to be more the type of mother who runs out and joins PFLAG and passes out embarrassing pamphlets on same-sex safe sex the moment one of her children/grandchildren comes out of the closet. So, here's the prompt: one of her kids/grandkids has recently come out, and Chi Chi gets it in her head that the entire family (and friends, whatever you decide) should participate in a pride march as a bonding experience. Bonus points for the entire gang showing up and everything going hilariously bad from there.**

The fill:

* * *

><p>The sight of his father wearing a rainbow shirt, smiling and waving at everyone without a care in the world was one that would forever haunt him until his dying day. His older brother was in-between bemused and amused at all this. His mother, wearing a shirt that read 'Proud Parent of a Gay Son,' kept telling the others to hold their flags higher.<p>

Clearly, this was Hell. It was not a topic up for debate. Yes, this is Hell, and you're in it, and your family is here too, and oh, oh crap, the Brief's family and mother of god was that Marron and her family next to them?

This was (in capitals now): A Bonding Experience.

All because he couldn't do what Trunks and his sister did all the time, and repress and lie to their parents. Who looked happy/confused/pointing and laughing at him. Vegeta was staring with more than a little interest at a booth selling rainbow spandex, to the horror of his family. Bra was taking pictures of everything. Future Trunks looked like he wanted to hug himself, unable to stare from the men passing by in varying degrees of undress. And now Krillin was being harassed by a passing float emblazoned with the words 'Twink Island,' what exactly was being said missed by the older Trunks was screaming insanely back at them only to go pale and trembly at the sight of Goten. Juuhachigou was not happy, and kept rubbing at her forehead while her daughter went to get a funny feathered hat. They were rarely all together in an event that did not involve stuffing their faces or hitting one another.

Goten had to go hide in his head for awhile. He went deep inside, touching the walls and recalling, recalling…as lost as a blind man.

There was one hidden weapon in his arsenal, destined to stop his mother in her tracks, a weapon that haunted his mind like a suicidal man might focus on his gun, had been gripped in a white-knuckled fist at the dinner table. The way an alcoholic might hold and fondle a bottle. His mother was still screaming and waving around his report cord. He aimed and pulled the trigger.

"Mom. I'm gay."

His mother hadn't slowed down in her screams at all. "I don't care! What does that have to do with you failing history!"

It was like his mother had pulled out some bullet deflector, and continued his rant while Goten nearly fell from his seat, clutching bloody wounds. "You don't care?"

She paused. "Okay. You're gay. And getting a D in history. Why is that?"

He had his excuse ready to go. "Because the teacher hates gay people." A lie. The history teacher had shown no dislike of any one particular group; he hated everyone with the same passion and fervor. But if he was going to prove to Trunks (one of them anyway, the only one that still cared) that you could tell your parents about what you were into (within reason), and possibly get away with failing a class, Goten was going to try his hardest. And indeed, there was a light in his mother's eyes.

"He's failing you. Because you're gay!"

"Yep. Came to school with a rainbow bracelet thing, to support the other gay kids, you know, who get picked on and need the support. And then I get my test back and it's a F. Even though my answers were mostly right. Like, like a C at least."

They all joked about Chi-Chi's rage. How she was scarier than their father by a long shot. How she was such a taskmaster. How she bossed everyone around without a shred of empathy or pity. And that was all true. Yet, all those previous rages were was nothing compared to what was before them right now.

Gohan put down his book and slid his chair away from the table. Goku dropped his bowl of rice. Neither of those two had shown any interest, since his brother was already aware of that fact, and their father probably had no idea what any of that meant. But now they pitied every living thing on the planet including their son/brother, and envied everything dead since it could escape Chi-Chi's wrath. Goten, backed into a corner from her earlier screams, could only stand frozen and gape at her.

Her voice was icy enough to nearly see the plume of her breathe. "He failed you. Because _you're gay_."

"Y-yeah. Yeah."

The face behind Gohan's glasses was utter terror. Goku tried to placate her, "Hey, now, take a breath here, and have a piece of toast," but she knocked the bread from out of his hands and stomped off. Their father held his hand to his mouth, and didn't go to retrieve the toast slice.

The history teacher was a bastard, but no one deserved what was to happen to him. Although, whatever exactly happened no one knew since when asked, Chi-Chi would just smile and say that the 'corrections had been made.' Goten sat there and looked at the crumbs along with the rest of his family. For the rest of the semester, his grade in history would always be an A, regardless of what he'd put down on the paper.

When she came back home, hours later, she was glowing with maternal warmth. She pushed back the shaggy black fringe of his hair, and kissed his forehead. "Now, are you okay? Is there something you want to talk about?"

Goten had shaken his head, already scraped raw with fear for what he'd unleashed, and vowed to never tell his folks anything again ever.

"Well, alright then." Then, humming, she went to the kitchen and discovering no dirty dishes, went out back to find no clothes hanging on the lines as Goku and Gohan had been thorough to clean the house to please her.

"Vacuum!" Their father had yelled. "Suck up everything. One stain will get her to give up cooking for a month."

"B-but, Dad, shouldn't—"

"She'll make_ me_ cook!"

"But—"

Gohan had grabbed his little brother's shoulder. "Get a broom. Now."

He'd never seen his father look so grim, and there hadn't even been any giggles over him putting an apron on or going so far as to vacuum the ceiling. This was Code Black, for the badly burnt food they'd have to eat without their mother.

But dinner that night had been pleasant, and he'd gotten the best part of the meatloaf and steak and pork roast. He'd decided to never mention anything like that again, Trunks and Bra were right after all, denial and lies were the best solution when it came to parental questions, that they hadn't needed to hear he was into guys at all. Of course, it still wasn't clear that the man exactly knew that his youngest was gay…

Even now, waving around a flag and eating enough cotton candy to even make the other Saiyan's sick and with fluffy sticky pink remnants in his hair, you couldn't tell what was going through his head. His father had always been a mystery to him; Gohan was the one with the gift of reading the man easily. Goten nearly glared at him, trying to understand what he was thinking. Was there disapproval in the way he started in on a candy apples, a snide look in his eyes as he waved to the people on the floats?

As for Chi-Chi…his mom was laughing at her absurd husband. A happy calm look in her eyes.

Nothing like when she'd come home with all these shiny pamphlets that had made Videl cover Pan's eyes, which immediately made the girl curious, and Gohan choke on his noodles while Goten went cold all over again. Goku had just laughed and said that those looked like the magazines his Master had, but 'what was this thing on STD's?' Gohan and his wife shook their heads and dragged Pan away, trying in their own quiet way not to blame Goten for this, mumbling 'I bet Krillin doesn't have to go through this at his house.'

"Goku. Stop poking at those. This is about our son."

"Mom! I don't-have any of those. I'm not—god, I'm not, you know, dating anyone."

"I know honey." She gave him a warm kind look that made Goten stare down at his hands. Think deeply and shamefully of his troubled love life. Of purple hair against a knee and charmingly scared blue eyes, of how someone's (still not known) footsteps on the stairs had snapped them out of their safe little bubble that had allowed them to finally express themselves, of how the warmth had left the room when _he _had. "But gay teens are at a higher risk for these sorts of things."

"No, no, Mom-"

But that was the beginning of the end of his peaceful denial-soaked life that involves sneaking and hiding, then burning, magazines. No, now his mother would buy those for him, telling him that she wanted him to be prepared, and to never try using popper or Anal Eeze because you could seriously injure yourself or your partner, and never know it. That, despite what the media might say (what media this was never explained) gay men were completely capable of committed long lasting relationships. Only to come back the next day and apologize for that remarks, that he could sleep with whomever he wanted, whenever, could be bi, not that she wanted him to try and force himself to date a woman, but if he changed his sexuality, she was fine with it. Whatever he wanted. And to always use condoms.

That she would love a bunch of adapted children as much as any biological ones, and even his father had been adopted. That all she wanted was for him to do well in school, and to meet and marry someone rich while he would sit there and gape back at her until she fluttered away, so proud of her youngest son.

He had thought his shame was a personal thing, kept solely in the house, at least. Chi-Chi then came back with a rainbow flag ("now wasn't that delightful!") and a new pamphlet and a membership to PFLAG. Even then, Goten could deal. So she told strangers about how proud she was of her gay son who did so well in his history class? So what if she would watch him with a loving gaze that made his hands break out in a sweat, and wonder if she knew the full extent of his no-longer-shamefully-but-now-quite-boring-and-tame-compared-to-other-gay-guys-appearently relationship? That it had only happened once, and left both men running from each other despite their families being so close, did she know that?

In the end, all he learned from the lectures and caring gestures, was to always use condoms. Not that there was even any chance because there was no way he was going to do anything that they did in those books and movies that his mother left lying around to be watched only by is father who was outraged that 'this isn't Lethal Weapon at all!' No way would he get naked for anyone but a doctor that was there to do a lobotomy. He banned Trunks and Bra and Marron from coming over. Gohan told him that it was like Mom was a totally different person. He considered running away.

His mother was all love and support, understanding more than he did about his sexuality. "You can be butch, or a flamer, or whatever. I won't say anything mean either way. Grow your hair out, or keep it long, either way, I respect you." Tearing him apart with her affection and support until Goten shoved his untouched plate of food towards the black hole of food eating of his father, and wept into the comforting shoulder of his black hole of love mother that sucked away everything but an empty shell and left him only nodding that yes, he understood he was born this way, that he shouldn't be ashamed, that people who hated him for something he didn't have a choice in were just ignorant fools.

She patted his hair. "I guess that stereotype of a gay man's best friend being his mother weren't wrong." Which brought up memories of purple-hair and stupid, stupid yellow-black boots that had him weeping harder. "Oh, honey. It's okay.

"I love you.

"And here's a Lady Gaga CD."

That he took sniffling and was still in its wrapper, even now. His A's in history were all that were keeping his GPA afloat, until his mother did another round at school. His face began to have the look of a man sentenced to prison. While he walked the halls, children would point and go, 'there's the kid with the crazy mom.' Not one word of his sexuality. He lost ten pounds. His mother gave weekly lectures in the gym on tolerance and bullying, and started a GLBT club that even straight allies were strongly, strongly suggested to join. Pale teenagers were seen rubbing their rainbow armbands and bracelets, for reassurance and to show others that it was cool, hey, there were in the club, now don't tell that crazy woman _anything,_ please. No one was picked on anymore, yet everyone's heads were kept low.

Plus Gohan had taken to just staring at their mother like he'd never met her before, that Pan had been seen given pamphlets on PFLAG and Videl had taken to grinding her teeth over the daughter's questions that mostly focused on what exactly was going on with Grandma, and why was she saying she was fine with her and Bra (and maybe Marron) being so close? Chi-Chi was having Bulma call in favors to have holidays and months set aside for gay children and their parents. He could often taste the fillings earned from a childhood spent eating candy, the rainbow chalky-sweet bracelets that had his mother remembering and going 'Oh.'

Goku had taken to hugging him more. Especially when Goten would break out in tears over the new 'gay friendly' commercials that were broadcast every hour. His mother would see them, and it would bring her to tears, to see her family brought so close together and no more secrets hidden from everyone.

Chi-Chi would hug him and insist that he would find a wonderful young man one day, someone rich and intelligent that went to a good school, and would love him like she and Goku loved each other. To never settle on one-night-stands (_always use a condom_, though, if he did such a thing!) and that two men could love each other just as much as a woman and man. "I just wish you had a good gay role model somewhere besides in the media." Which encased him in a block of ice and gratefulness that no one in the Brief's family, regardless of age and timelines, told anyone anything.

But clearly, clearly he needed more support to get through this. Everyone had to come together and show that they were proud of his decision to come out of the closet, that they all loved him. Even those who were totally lukewarm on him and would run flying across the continent just when he went to Capsule Corp until he would have nightmares of going over there, hopelessly pulled there by an unfightable smothering force and into a pair of blue arms that would never hold him again. He'd awaken weeping loudly, until his mother came running into the room to hold and comfort him and say that 'nocturnal emissions were all very natural.'

They all needed to come together to show their support, to show he was loved and accepted, and where better than a parade designed for this very purpose?

"But, Mom—"

"Get your jacket. Or whatever would make you feel more comfortable." That warm look that made him nod and go all empty again.

All Goku wanted to know was whether or not there would be carnival food there.

Goten swallowed again in the dry scalp cracking heat, barely able to move his legs and hold up a small rainbow flag at the same time. He was seeing spots. Bra kept taking pictures with a fancy camera while her brother pulled Vegeta away from the spandex and Bulma pretended not to know either of them. Krillin was still being yelled at by the twinks, though now Juuhachigou was telling them to back off. Marron was wearing a ridiculously large hat and helping Bra take photos. And Future Trunks was…was…being pulled in closer by Chi-Chi who was telling everyone to come rally around the boy they were all here for.

"We're here to celebrate differences and show our tolerance and pride for our kids. Some of whom are out, and some who are still in the closet." Meaningful looks were given to a certain family, looks that turned Vegeta angry, Bulma shrugging and saying that she knew all the horrible details of her kids lives before they learned to hide their computer search history which disappointed her more than anything, the computer illiteracy, and Trunks began panicking and telling everyone in ear shot that he'd deleted everything that it was the other bad Trunks who was responsible for looking up…whatever he'd been looking up. Bra just rolled her eyes. Marron had to go help her mother help Krillin away from the Twink Island, the blonde girl just shaking her head and saying that she totally didn't want to know what that was all about. Future Trunks had yet to do anything but stare. Haunted, no doubt, over the memory of his brief nothing fling with the boy with the overprotective mother.

"Okay, now everyone, come close and tell Goten how you love and support his decision.

"Hug him. Yes, even you, Vegeta.

"Oh, Trunks, Future Trunks, don't be shy, go right ahead and give him a nice healthy hug to show how you feel.

"Go on."

Bra and Marron snapped more pictures of them while everyone, sarcastic or sincere, went, "Aaawwwww." Goten looked at them all, family and friends, in rainbow or not, and wondered what exactly had gone wrong in his life to have caused all this. What he'd done to deserve them. He'd never been so close to his mother, or to Future Trunks since that brief whatever at Capsule Corp. So loved and accepted by this pack of weirdoes that had, after all, gathered for him on his mother's threats. To demonstrate that they cared, about both him and their own lives. Perhaps, perhaps it was just better to accept them for who they were, even Chi-Chi? His mother was crazy, and she loved him enough to go through all this and ruin his life. The older Trunks was still hugging him, almost for comfort. Maybe he wanted to awaken from this nightmare as well?

Later, he would get some caramel apples with his Father and make fun with Bra of his best friend singing under his breath with the Lady Gaga songs. Gohan would clasp his shoulder with a laugh and say something to make him feel better. Maybe he would find out later what was with Krillin and that float. He would get into a great college with all the good grades and teacher recommendations. At least the afternoon was almost over.

"Oh, look, there's the news crew! Now, everyone come together."

And Goten was the first to hug Chi-Chi, pulling out of Trunk's needy arms to hold his Mom and smile at the camera and admit before the world that this was his mother, and he was proud of her.


End file.
